Railway-switch.



'No. 762,158. PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904.

J. A. FAULKNER. RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1904. N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

attozmu No.-762,15 8. PATENTED. JUNE 7, 1904.

J. A. FAULKNER.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30.1904, N0 MODEL.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Swim Wm v Wm M armam- PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904.

' J. A. FAULKNER.

RAILWAY SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

N0 MODEL.

PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904. J. A. PAULKNER. RAILWAY SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30.1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- N0 MODEL.

31100" to: i aisgviflfaz/ifrer M A WN Gfbozneg UNITED STATES Patented June '7, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 762,158, dated June '7, 1904:.

Application filed- .i'anuary 30, 1904. Serial No. 191,342. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OSEII-I A. FAULKNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVilliamsville, in the county of lVayne and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railway-Switches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvernents in railway-switches; and its object is to provide mechanism of simple construction, whereby the main line of a railway may be kept clear, and the switches arranged thereon can be automatically closed by an engine approaching the same, so as to prevent said engine from moving upon a siding unless it is so desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel means for locking the switch in adjusted position, so as to prevent the same from being accidentally displaced.

Another object is to employ means upon an engine or the tender thereof for automatically throwing the switch into desired position.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, showing the preferred form of my invention, and in which-- Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a track having my improved switch-operating mechanism thereon, said track being broken away along the line 1 1. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the portion of the track extending from the line 1 1, said portion being broken away on the line 2 2. Fig. 3 is a plan view of that portion of the track adjacent to and extending beyond the line 2 2. Figs. 41, 5, and 6 are side elevations of the parts illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical section through the mechanism for manually operating and looking the switch. Fig. 8 is a section on line 8 8, Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a section on line 9 9, Fig. 7; and Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a portion of the tender of a locomotive and showing one form of mechanism for automatically operating the switch mechanism.

Referring to the figures by numerals of reference, 1 1 are the rails of the main-line track, and siding rails 2 2 extend therefrom, and interposed between the rails at the points of conjunction are switch-tongues 3, which are adapted to move .in unison upon ties 4:, provided therefor. These tongues are connected by a bar 5, having a rectangular recess 6 in one edge, and this bar extends to one side of the track and is connected to one arm 7 of a T-shaped lever 8. The oppositely-extending arm 9 of this lever is connected, by means of a coiled spring 10, with the base 11 of a standard12, and this standard has a disk-like head 13, within which are arranged, preferably, two rectangular recesses 14. A shaft 15 is revolubly mounted within the head 13, and its lower end depends upon a block 16 provided therefor. An arm 17 is keyed or otherwise secured to the upper end of shaft 15 and has a forked end 18, within which is pi"- oted a handle 19. A staple 20 extends from this handle and when engaged by a padlock 21 or other suitable locking means is adapted to hold the handle 19 in a substantially upright positiomas shown in Fig. 7. It will therefore be understood that when this handle is located within one of the recesses 1 1 I when locked in this position the rotation of shaft 15 is prevented.

An arm 22 extends from the shaft 15 near its lower end and has a curved lug 23, which engages a recess 24, formed within a link 25. This link is slidably mounted within a slot 26, formed within a side plate 27, extending upward from'the base of standard 12, and the recess 24 is held normally in engagement with the lug 23 bya spring 28, which is connected at opposite ends to the link and to the base of the standard, respectively. The link 25 is pivoted to the arm 9 of lever 8, and a rod 29 is also pivoted to this arm at a point adjacent link 25 and is connected to one end of a T- shaped catch 30, pivoted within a bracket 31 at a point adjacent the recess 6 in red 5.

An arm 32 extends inwardly from the lever 8 at a point adjacent its fulcrum 33, and this arm is pivoted to oppositely-extending rods 34. Each rod is connected to the lower end of its lever 35.

of a centrally-fulcrumed lever 35, and the upper ends of these. levers are connected, by means of rods 36, with the lower ends of operating-levers 37. These operating-levers are pivoted at points between their ends, and the upper ends thereof extend above and adjacent one of the rails 1. Each lever 37 and 35 has a shaft 38, which extends transversely of the track and is provided at the other end with similar levers 37 and 35, which are connected by rods 36 and 34, such as hereinbefore described. It will be understood that the shafts 38, which are nearest the switch and which are illustrated in Fig. 3, extend through both the rails 1 and 2 and the tongues 3, so as to bring the levers 35 and 37 adjacent the outer rail of the siding. In Figs. 3 and 6 I have shown one of the rods 36 connected to the upper end of its lever 37 and to the lower end This arrangement does not change the operation of the mechanism and can be used, if desired, in lieu of the arrangement hereinbefore described.

Should the switch be open and an engine which is to pass over the main line approaches the same, the tongues 3 can be automatically shifted so as to close the siding and open the main line by simply throwing a plunger 39, which is slidably mounted ina bracket 10 on the tender 41 of the engine, downward into the path of the lovers 37. This plunger can be operated by means of a bell-crank lever 42, as illustrated in Fig. 10. Any suitable pawl-and-ratchet mechanism 13 may be em ployed for locking the lever in adjusted position. When the plunger 39 comes in contact with the lever 37, it will, as is obvious, draw the adjacent end rods 36 outward, so as to swing levers upon their fulcrums, and thereby press the rods 34 outward, so as to swing arm 9 of lever 8 away from the rail 1. This action will, as is obvious, cause the T- shaped catch 30 to swing upon its fulcrum. so as to remove one end of said catch from engagement with the recess 6, and simultaneously with this operation the rod 5 is moved longitudinally of the arm 7 of lever 8, there by shifting the tongues 3 laterally, so as to close the switch and open the main line. The opposite end of the T-shaped catch 30 will, as is obvious, engage the other end of recess 6 and lock the rod 5 against return movement, as shown in Fig. 2.

Should it be desired to operate the switch manually, it is merely necessary to raise handle 19 and swing the shaft 15 and its arm 22, so as to carry tongue 25 in a desired direction. After the switch has been shifted the handle 19 can be dropped into the recess 14 alining therewith and, if desired, can be locked by inserting a padlock or other suitable device into the staple 20 thereon. It will be seen that the mechanism employed is extremely simple in construction and serves to lock the tongues securely in the positions to which they may be adjusted.

In the foregoing description. 1 have shown the preferred form of my invention; but I do not limit myself thereto, as I am aware that modifications may be made therein Without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof, and I therefore reserve the right to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- 1. In a switch, the combination with a tongue having a recessed rod extending therefrom; of a lock pivoted adjacent the rod and adapted to alternately engage opposite ends of the recess, an operating-lever connected to the rod and lock and adapted to operate the same in unison, and mechanism adjacent the switch adapted to be operated by a locomotive for moving the operating-lever.

2. The combination with a track having a switch-tongue; of a recessed rod connected to the tongue, a lock pivoted adjacent the rod and adapted to engage the recess, an operating-lever connected -to the rod and lock for operating the same in unison, levers pivoted adjacent the track and adapted to be operated by mechanism upon an engine, and a rigid connection between the lovers and the operating-lever.

3. The combination with a track having a switch-tongue, a T-shaped locking-lever pivoted adjacent and adapted to engage the recess, an operating-lever connected to the locking-lever and the rod, levers fulcrumed adjacent the track and adapted to be operated by mechanism upon a locomotive, and rods interposed between and connecting said levers and operating-lever.

4. The combination with a track having a switch-tongue thereon; of a recessed rod extending from the tongue, a locking-lever adjacent and adapted to engage the recessed rod, an operating-lever connected to the rod and locking-lever, a revoluble shaft, an arm thereto, a link connection between the arm and operating lever, and means for rotating the shaft.

5. The combination with a track having a switch-tongue thereon; of a recessed rod extending from the tongue, at locking-lever adjacent and adapted to engage the rod, an operating-lever connected to the rod and locking-lever, a standard, a recessed head to the standard, a shaft revolubly mounted within the head, an arm to the shaft, a spring-pressed link connecting said arm with the operatinglever, a handle pivotally connected to the shaft and adapted to engage a recess in the head, and means for locking the handle in said reccss.

6. The combination with a track having a switch-tongue therein; of a recessed rod extending from the tongue, a locking-lever pivoted adjacent and adapted to engage the rod,

a spring-pressed operating-lever connected at opposite ends to the rod and locking-lever,

respectively, means adjacent the track for moving the operating-lever upon its fulcrum, a shaft, an arm extending therefrom, a springpressed link pivoted to the operating-lever and dctachably connected to the arm of the 

